(CNN) - In a fund-raising pitch in Seattle, President Barack Obama implored his supporters to rally behind him once again, saying that helping secure his re-election is the best way to turn around a sluggish economy and overcome strident political opposition.

"We are tougher than the times that we live in, we are bigger than the small politics that we've been witnessing," he told the audience at the city's Paramount Theatre. "We are a people who write our own destiny, and it is fully within our power to write it once more."

(CNN) – Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner engaged in a political back-and-forth Sunday that revealed fractures between both parties—and the House and Senate.

Though Warner admitted the threat of another government shutdown as a result of a budget showdown is “embarrassing,” he also told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the conservative tea party movement was causing yet another stalemate.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – In a fiery speech at the Congressional Black Caucus awards dinner, President Obama challenged Republicans in Congress to show they care about job creation and was roundly cheered for showing he’s “going to fight” to fire up his supporters in a battle to “save the country.”

As he has done frequently in the weeks since he introduced the American Jobs Act, the president repeatedly called on Congress to pass the bill.FULL POST

(CNN) - If Congress can't come up with a deficit reduction deal this year, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday that he'll try to prevent further required cuts in the military budget.

The comment showed that contingency plans already are in place to avoid some of the more than $1 trillion in mandated spending cuts under a "trigger" mechanism intended to motivate Congress to reach a deficit deal.

Washington (CNN) – Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels chose not to join the Republican race for the presidential nomination in 2012, but weighed in on front-runners and the political landscape Sunday.

“I don’t have anything original to say,” about the GOP field, Daniels said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” but noted, “the two governors … for the most part seem to be the predominant personalities in the race,” referring to Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

And he sees 2012 as an opportunity to capture the White House from a “desperate” president.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – White House senior adviser David Plouffe stressed the need to “jumpstart” the economy Sunday while touting President Obama’s American Jobs Act during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The American Jobs Act would have a profound impact on the economy right now,” he said.FULL POST

ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) - Of all the punches thrown at Gov. Rick Perry during last week's Republican presidential debate in Florida, few landed harder than questions about Perry's support for a Texas bill allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition.

Perry signed the bill, HB 1403, in 2001 with the support of all but four legislators, making Texas the first state to grant in-state tuition to young undocumented immigrants who have lived in the state for three years and are seeking permanent residency.